In the first of a series looking at the work of businesses set up for the homeopathic community, we put the spotlight on The School of Health, which has specialised in home study courses for alternative practitioners since its launch in 1987.

Managing director, Mani Norland gives an insight.

It was at 14.17 on May 10 2005 when we got the final completion call on The School of Health. For my wife Amanda, and myself, it was a momentous day in our lives. Not only because we were buying an 18-your-old business, but because we were changing everything about our lives. We were giving up jobs we loved, moving from a city we loved, and putting distance between ourselves and all the friends we loved! So why do it?

The School of Health had been established in 1987 to administer and market the School of Homeopathy’s home study course. Misha Norland, my father, created the course so that more people could learn about homeopathy without having to travel long distances to the school. As well as helping to spread homeopathy further, it acted as a second route to the attendance course. At first the home study foundation course was only available in the UK, but it quickly gained popularity and people overseas started asking to sign up too. The course then expanded from one year to two years and eventually to a stand-alone four-year practitioner diploma course. North America became a growing market and representatives were found in the US and Canada.

Alongside the homeopathy program, The School of Health also developed medical science courses, which were initially created for homeopathy students to gain knowledge in orthodox medicine. These courses also grew in popularity and soon other colleges from different alternative therapies were asking if they could use them as part of their curriculum. In addition to this, the homeopathy students needed books for study, so The School of Health imported them in bulk from India and passed the savings on to students. And so the business grew.

For Amanda and I it was a chance to do something that aligned with our personal values and outlook on life. It is not every day you get to go to work with a smile on your face!

It meant giving something to people that would change the way they think and live their lives for the better. It meant truly believing in what we’re doing and wanting to do it to the best of our abilities. We wanted a company where we could be at one, be explorative, be compassionate, sharing, clear and ethical – as much as we can! These are personal values that we hold dear and we wanted to be able to take them to work and express them in what we do. So for example, for us, being at one meant integrating mind, heart, soul and body. It meant living in harmony at home and at work. We wanted this to be our guiding principle, and tried to ensure it was distilled deep into what we do. Our courses and books teach people about themselves and others. They embrace the connection between art and science - and as a business, whenever we communicate we relate the parts to the whole.

This was important to us, so we looked at each of our personal values in turn and then thought about how we would bring this to life through The School of Health. Explorative was very much about our creative artistic sides and was what we had enjoyed expressing so much in our design roles in London. To keep us and The School of Health happy, we needed to be sure we could express this important aspect of our wellbeing though the business. We ensure we bring creativity to our work, we enjoy new ideas, we do all our own design work and we share philosophical thinking. The School of Health provides creative tools with which our students can discover themselves and in doing so, broaden minds and open eyes. So we went on and considered each one of these values – which we believe has helped ensure we get the most out of our business.

The School of Health enrols around two hundred and fifty new students every year from over fifty countries. They offer courses in homeopathy,nutrition, anatomy & physiology and pathology & disease. All their courses are designed and developed for alternative practitioners and students. Both Mani and Amanda studied homeopathy at the School of Homeopathy and have a background in design and consulting. If you would like to know more about The School of Health visit www.schoolofhealth.com

Tags: Alternative Training | Mani Norland | Amanda Norland

This entry was posted on 01 May 2005 at 11:24.